A Birmingham councillor will formally resign the Liberal Democrat whip tomorrow following a row over his deselection.

Coun Abdul Aziz was elected to represent Aston ward in July 2005 in a by-election following the postal fraud scam which disrupted the local election.

However, a row with senior Lib Dems has led to them accusing Coun Aziz of helping Labour.

Last night Coun Aziz denied he was defecting to Labour but added he was "keeping my options open" and intends to continue serving the local community.

He said: "I resigned the whip on Friday but will make a formal announcement before the

full council meeting on Tuesday.

"I felt it was unfair that the party deselected me when I'm supposed to be a sitting councillor.

"People in Aston don't necessarily vote for the Lib Dems, they vote for the individual, so I am confident I'll take a fair few votes from the Hemming clan at the next election."

Councillor John Hemming (Lib Dem, South Yardley) said he was "very happy" that Coun Aziz had left the party, but claimed he had agreed to be replaced by a new candidate two years ago.

He said: "It was agreed by the Aston ward in 2004 that a new candidate would be fielded and Coun Aziz would be replaced,

but he didn't like that and this year he was helping Labour in their election campaign. I believe he's already tried to join Labour, Respect and the Conservatives without success but I'm sure he'll find somewhere to go."